Taylor Swift gives fans her all at Staples opener

Most artists, young and old alike, will at some point acknowledge in concert how thankful they are for the unwavering devotion of their fans. You see it from all kinds. Metallica's James Hetfield is always going on about it. Just last week Sade was humbly effusive toward her audience, who patiently waited a decade for her return.

Sincere or rehearsed, gratitude is good manners every act should indulge, lest such support quickly vanish. But no one gives into the urge to share quite so much – or as forthrightly – as Taylor Swift. Tuesday night at Staples Center, in her first of four sold-out shows this week at the L.A. arena, the country-pop crossover sensation took the without-you-I'm-nothing routine to a whole new level with every remark.

“You guys are absolutely out of some sort of daydream that I've had,” she told her shrieking minions, scores of whom held up glittering signs or flashing lights that spelled out their hero's name. It clearly was a fantasy come true for them, too, a chance to spy the girl whose songs they holler into hairbrushes on sleepovers, an opportunity to commiserate over all the joy and heartbreak they think only Taylor truly understands.

What a double treat it must have been, then, when she asked, “Would it be all right if I brought out my friend Justin?” – and then the Bieber himself popped out to sing “Baby.”

“It's absolutely amazing to play for you,” she added, more than once in so many words. At times it almost seemed like she was too overwhelmed by the 13,500 on hand (her estimate, I think she's low-balling) to do much more than gawk at the sight of it all. She stood flabbergasted just after her opening song, a suitably pyro-laden “Sparks Fly,” stepping to the edge of an extended stage and making eyes – first startled, then coy – with the crowd.

Swift is as stunned by her success as anyone else. But while I believe that's true, I didn't always buy how she conveyed it at Staples; sometimes warmth was lacking, her thank-you's seeming scripted and practiced. Not that 13-year-olds with the star's lucky number painted on their hands and faces know any better. Bet they came away feeling like Taylor spoke directly to them.

And no matter where they sat, they managed to get up-close moments with the headliner. I haven't seen a big-name attraction try so hard at achieving one-on-ones with screaming devotees since Shania Twain spent the better part of an encore at the Pond signing autographs while still warbling “You're Still the One.”

Swift's approach was much less distracting than that, her interaction integrated into an exceptionally designed spectacle as tricked-out as anything from Lady Gaga or Katy Perry, if also far more wholesome and teen- oriented. It felt like the most lavish Broadway-infused community youth production ever – “Bye Bye Birdie” with fresher songs and indoor fireworks.

Here comes Taylor, wagging her well-tamed mane through “Mine,” her face plastered in close-up on several giant HD screens. Here she comes again, playing the country bumpkin' for a few songs (“The Story of Us,” “Mean”) in blousy pauper-girl clothes, the only one of her nine outfits that wasn't either a splashy mini-dress showing off her lithe, leggy figure or an elegant gown like she might wear to the Oscars someday.

Now pose her on a staircase adorned with wedding décor and overdone bridesmaids, while she plays out the he-should've-been-mine scenario of “Speak Now.” And there she goes! Off into the crowd, shaking hands and high-fiving her way to the other end of the arena for a sweet (if long) acoustic segment, the singer perched next to a towering tree that spun in 360. Stuck in the upper decks? No worry: Taylor will rise like Romeo's Juliet and fly toward you like Mary Poppins during her final encore number, “Love Story.”

She was in near-perpetual motion, changing outfits in an instant, never allowing her connection with fans to sag. She leapt surprised out of trap doors. Placed regally at a piano, she was lifted by hydraulics and set beside a golden bridge for a stately blending of “Back to December” with OneRepublic's “Apologize” and her own “You're Not Sorry.”

Swift is big on covers, by the way. During that solo acoustic mini-set, led by a ukulele version of “Fearless” that blends into Jason Mraz's “I'm Yours,” she typically tackles a tune by a local songwriter. Here she tried two: one of the greatest songs ever written, by Brian Wilson, followed by a breezy gem from Gwen Stefani. “The Sweetest Escape” from the latter was a perfect choice: Taylor nailed it, right down to its fast-patter portions, and the crowd ate it up. But Wilson's “God Only Knows” was a curious choice.

The depth of its sentiment is beyond her 21 years, so naturally she sang it only efficiently, with simplified chording that stripped the soulfulness out of its plea. It was the only moment in nearly 2½ hours of artist and fans basking in mutual love when a song didn't seem to resonate with everyone. Classic or not, how much of an audience Swift's age or younger is even aware of it? (I wonder, too, if they caught the “Don't Worry Baby” quote scrawled down her left arm.)

What I admire about her biting off such a big piece, though, is how it speaks to the gentle intensity Swift brings to her enthusiasm for fans. It's a sign of idiosyncratic bravery: Just how passionately does she love them? Enough to earnestly sing “God only knows what I'd be without you” and watch it sail clear over their heads. As with her turn at last year's All for the Hall benefit at Club Nokia (where she held her own alongside Lionel Richie, Kris Kristofferson and Vince Gill), such a move indicates genuine artistry in development.

There's a much realer Taylor Swift beneath all that Covergirl makeup, one whose innate talent for songwriting and catchy (if samey) melodies is selling extremely well (20 million albums and counting) yet is also evolving at a more leisurely pace. Appropriately so, too: Not every girl who pens 14 diary-entry ditties while enduring her first headlining tour is going to be Alanis Morissette.

Taylor has seemingly been living a less tortured, more sheltered life. Yet, in December she became old enough to drink and gamble, and since she was 18 she's dated Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal, Taylor Lautner and John Mayer. And still she's writing and performing like the freshman she embodies in “Fifteen.” She sings about the buzz of first dates and kisses; she's an attitude-free Avril Lavigne who won't go to second base.

“Songwriting started out as an after-school activity,” she told the crowd. “Over time it progressed into something I need to do to stay sane in my everyday life.” Mostly she writes songs about love, bringer of “the most intense happiness and the most intense sadness,” depending on whether it's coming or going. I believe her sincerity about that process far more than I did her many awestruck asides to fans: “Honestly, every time I've played a show here, when I walk on stage you absolutely take my breath away.”

But I still wonder if she isn't fostering a problematic case of arrested development. Will she peddle adolescent heartbreak when she's 25? 35? Will she ever grow out of '90s pop/rock revamps and Shania-isms?

For now, she's critic-proof. Complain all you want about her thin voice and bland material, her idolizers don't care – they feel her mild romantic angst to their cores. And 20 million of them aren't wrong after all: This resolutely strong Staples performance is proof that she actually can sing confidently. She may never have a profound voice – when she aims high, her lung power fails and her tone turns dainty and breathy. But she's clearly gaining strength as she grows, and now I'm convinced all those pitchy television performances were either due to monitor malfunctions or really bad nerves.

Frankly, with this Speak Now production (featuring 12 of 14 songs from that album) every bit as accomplished as anything of similar size from her peers, tender-hearted Taylor Swift is creatively right where she ought to be. Here's hoping she can keep it up amid such massive popularity.

Setlist: Taylor Swift at Staples Center, Los Angeles, Aug. 23, 2011

Main set: Sparks Fly / Mine / The Story of Us / Our Song / Mean / Back to December (with snippets of OneRepublic's Apologize and her own You're Not Sorry) / Better Than Revenge / Speak Now / Fearless (acoustic, with a snippet of Jason Mraz's I'm Yours) > Last Kiss (acoustic) / God Only Knows (Beach Boys cover, acoustic) / The Sweetest Escape (Gwen Stefani cover, acoustic) / You Belong with Me / Dear John / Baby (with Justin Bieber) / Enchanted / Haunted / Long Live

Encore: Fifteen / Love Story

Swift, with Needtobreathe and Josh Kelley opening, plays again tonight and then Aug. 27-28 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, 1111 S. Figueroa St. Tickets are $25-$79.50.

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